Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 19 Dec 2013 - 06:30
Our journey through the lesser-known films of the 2000s continues. This week, it's 2003...
It was the year that Arnold Schwarzenegger went from Terminator actor to Governor of California, and when The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King dominated the global box office with a gross of more than $1bn. 2003 was also the year the Wachowskis' Matrix trilogy thundered to a close, the year Freddy Krueger clashed with Jason Voorhees in, er, Freddy Vs Jason, and the year Pixar scored another hit with Finding Nemo.
But as you've probably gathered by now, 2003 was also a year of quite brilliant, less lucrative films. The movies we've included in this week's list were chosen for a variety of reasons - some were ignored in cinemas, while others were harshly treated by critics. Some were modestly popular or given awards on release,...
Our journey through the lesser-known films of the 2000s continues. This week, it's 2003...
It was the year that Arnold Schwarzenegger went from Terminator actor to Governor of California, and when The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King dominated the global box office with a gross of more than $1bn. 2003 was also the year the Wachowskis' Matrix trilogy thundered to a close, the year Freddy Krueger clashed with Jason Voorhees in, er, Freddy Vs Jason, and the year Pixar scored another hit with Finding Nemo.
But as you've probably gathered by now, 2003 was also a year of quite brilliant, less lucrative films. The movies we've included in this week's list were chosen for a variety of reasons - some were ignored in cinemas, while others were harshly treated by critics. Some were modestly popular or given awards on release,...
- 12/18/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Young Adam
Screened
New York Film Festival
NEW YORK -- In "Young Adam", Joe Taylor, the central character played by Ewan McGregor, shags every woman in sight, but the net effect is surprisingly joyless. An adaptation of Scottish novelist Alexander Trocchi's classic Beat novel, David Mackenzie's film is more than a little reminiscent of the great noir dramas of the '40s and '50s, and its hard-edged grit is startlingly refreshing in these politically correct and sexually repressed times. Showcased at the New York Film Festival, the film is scheduled for a domestic release via Sony Pictures Classics.
Set in 1950s Scotland, the film depicts the sexual misadventures of Joe, a drifter who lives and works on a barge that plies the waters between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Also inhabiting the cramped boat is Les (Peter Mullan), his wife Ella (Tilda Swinton) and their young son Jim Jack McElhone). Thanks to Les' drinking, Ella is sexually unsatisfied, and it isn't long before she and Joe are trading bodily fluids in every corner of the ship, often daringly right under Les' nose. Eventually, Les becomes aware of the betrayal and leaves the couple to their own devices, and when Ella's sister Gwen (Therese Bradley) shows up, it isn't long before Joe has had her as well.
A major plot element involves Joe and Les' discovery of the near-naked body of a drowned woman, with Joe's suspicious reaction indicating that he knows more than he's letting on. As we see in a series of flashbacks, the woman is Cathie (Emily Mortimer), with whom Joe had been having a relationship, and he may have had an involvement in her death as well. Eventually, the case culminates in a murder trial that forces Joe to confront the prospect that an innocent man may be executed for the crime.
Taut and concise in its storytelling, the film is a gripping portrayal of the darker aspects of human behavior and the ways in which sex becomes a substitute for genuine emotional connection.
Highly frank and explicit in its depiction of Joe's frequent couplings, it also includes a destined-to-be-much-talked-about sex scene between McGregor and Mortimer in which humiliation and passion are combined to ambiguous effect.
The film wouldn't work nearly as well as it does without the consistently superb performances by the talented cast. McGregor is utterly convincing as a man who is irresistible to women but thankfully avoids any opportunity to play up his natural charm. Swinton is equally restrained as the no-nonsense Ella, imparting volumes about her character in the subtlest of ways, and Mortimer is haunting as the doomed Cathie. Mullan plays the cuckolded Les in highly sympathetic fashion, while Bradley offers an indelible cameo as the sexually rapacious sister.
YOUNG ADAM
Sony Pictures Classics
HanWay Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: David Mackenzie
Producer: Jeremy Thomas
Co-producers: Alexandra Stone, Nick O'Hagan, Jim Reeve
Based on the novel by Alexander Trocchi: Director of photography: Giles Nuttgens
Editor: Colin Monie
Music: David Byrne
Production designer: Laurence Dorman
Cast:
Joe: Ewan McGregor
Ella: Tilda Swinton
Les: Peter Mullan
Cathie: Emily Mortimer
Jim: Jack McElhone
Gwen: Therese Bradley
Running time -- 93 minutes
No MPAA rating...
New York Film Festival
NEW YORK -- In "Young Adam", Joe Taylor, the central character played by Ewan McGregor, shags every woman in sight, but the net effect is surprisingly joyless. An adaptation of Scottish novelist Alexander Trocchi's classic Beat novel, David Mackenzie's film is more than a little reminiscent of the great noir dramas of the '40s and '50s, and its hard-edged grit is startlingly refreshing in these politically correct and sexually repressed times. Showcased at the New York Film Festival, the film is scheduled for a domestic release via Sony Pictures Classics.
Set in 1950s Scotland, the film depicts the sexual misadventures of Joe, a drifter who lives and works on a barge that plies the waters between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Also inhabiting the cramped boat is Les (Peter Mullan), his wife Ella (Tilda Swinton) and their young son Jim Jack McElhone). Thanks to Les' drinking, Ella is sexually unsatisfied, and it isn't long before she and Joe are trading bodily fluids in every corner of the ship, often daringly right under Les' nose. Eventually, Les becomes aware of the betrayal and leaves the couple to their own devices, and when Ella's sister Gwen (Therese Bradley) shows up, it isn't long before Joe has had her as well.
A major plot element involves Joe and Les' discovery of the near-naked body of a drowned woman, with Joe's suspicious reaction indicating that he knows more than he's letting on. As we see in a series of flashbacks, the woman is Cathie (Emily Mortimer), with whom Joe had been having a relationship, and he may have had an involvement in her death as well. Eventually, the case culminates in a murder trial that forces Joe to confront the prospect that an innocent man may be executed for the crime.
Taut and concise in its storytelling, the film is a gripping portrayal of the darker aspects of human behavior and the ways in which sex becomes a substitute for genuine emotional connection.
Highly frank and explicit in its depiction of Joe's frequent couplings, it also includes a destined-to-be-much-talked-about sex scene between McGregor and Mortimer in which humiliation and passion are combined to ambiguous effect.
The film wouldn't work nearly as well as it does without the consistently superb performances by the talented cast. McGregor is utterly convincing as a man who is irresistible to women but thankfully avoids any opportunity to play up his natural charm. Swinton is equally restrained as the no-nonsense Ella, imparting volumes about her character in the subtlest of ways, and Mortimer is haunting as the doomed Cathie. Mullan plays the cuckolded Les in highly sympathetic fashion, while Bradley offers an indelible cameo as the sexually rapacious sister.
YOUNG ADAM
Sony Pictures Classics
HanWay Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: David Mackenzie
Producer: Jeremy Thomas
Co-producers: Alexandra Stone, Nick O'Hagan, Jim Reeve
Based on the novel by Alexander Trocchi: Director of photography: Giles Nuttgens
Editor: Colin Monie
Music: David Byrne
Production designer: Laurence Dorman
Cast:
Joe: Ewan McGregor
Ella: Tilda Swinton
Les: Peter Mullan
Cathie: Emily Mortimer
Jim: Jack McElhone
Gwen: Therese Bradley
Running time -- 93 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/9/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Young Adam
Screened
New York Film Festival
NEW YORK -- In "Young Adam", Joe Taylor, the central character played by Ewan McGregor, shags every woman in sight, but the net effect is surprisingly joyless. An adaptation of Scottish novelist Alexander Trocchi's classic Beat novel, David Mackenzie's film is more than a little reminiscent of the great noir dramas of the '40s and '50s, and its hard-edged grit is startlingly refreshing in these politically correct and sexually repressed times. Showcased at the New York Film Festival, the film is scheduled for a domestic release via Sony Pictures Classics.
Set in 1950s Scotland, the film depicts the sexual misadventures of Joe, a drifter who lives and works on a barge that plies the waters between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Also inhabiting the cramped boat is Les (Peter Mullan), his wife Ella (Tilda Swinton) and their young son Jim Jack McElhone). Thanks to Les' drinking, Ella is sexually unsatisfied, and it isn't long before she and Joe are trading bodily fluids in every corner of the ship, often daringly right under Les' nose. Eventually, Les becomes aware of the betrayal and leaves the couple to their own devices, and when Ella's sister Gwen (Therese Bradley) shows up, it isn't long before Joe has had her as well.
A major plot element involves Joe and Les' discovery of the near-naked body of a drowned woman, with Joe's suspicious reaction indicating that he knows more than he's letting on. As we see in a series of flashbacks, the woman is Cathie (Emily Mortimer), with whom Joe had been having a relationship, and he may have had an involvement in her death as well. Eventually, the case culminates in a murder trial that forces Joe to confront the prospect that an innocent man may be executed for the crime.
Taut and concise in its storytelling, the film is a gripping portrayal of the darker aspects of human behavior and the ways in which sex becomes a substitute for genuine emotional connection.
Highly frank and explicit in its depiction of Joe's frequent couplings, it also includes a destined-to-be-much-talked-about sex scene between McGregor and Mortimer in which humiliation and passion are combined to ambiguous effect.
The film wouldn't work nearly as well as it does without the consistently superb performances by the talented cast. McGregor is utterly convincing as a man who is irresistible to women but thankfully avoids any opportunity to play up his natural charm. Swinton is equally restrained as the no-nonsense Ella, imparting volumes about her character in the subtlest of ways, and Mortimer is haunting as the doomed Cathie. Mullan plays the cuckolded Les in highly sympathetic fashion, while Bradley offers an indelible cameo as the sexually rapacious sister.
YOUNG ADAM
Sony Pictures Classics
HanWay Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: David Mackenzie
Producer: Jeremy Thomas
Co-producers: Alexandra Stone, Nick O'Hagan, Jim Reeve
Based on the novel by Alexander Trocchi: Director of photography: Giles Nuttgens
Editor: Colin Monie
Music: David Byrne
Production designer: Laurence Dorman
Cast:
Joe: Ewan McGregor
Ella: Tilda Swinton
Les: Peter Mullan
Cathie: Emily Mortimer
Jim: Jack McElhone
Gwen: Therese Bradley
Running time -- 93 minutes
No MPAA rating...
New York Film Festival
NEW YORK -- In "Young Adam", Joe Taylor, the central character played by Ewan McGregor, shags every woman in sight, but the net effect is surprisingly joyless. An adaptation of Scottish novelist Alexander Trocchi's classic Beat novel, David Mackenzie's film is more than a little reminiscent of the great noir dramas of the '40s and '50s, and its hard-edged grit is startlingly refreshing in these politically correct and sexually repressed times. Showcased at the New York Film Festival, the film is scheduled for a domestic release via Sony Pictures Classics.
Set in 1950s Scotland, the film depicts the sexual misadventures of Joe, a drifter who lives and works on a barge that plies the waters between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Also inhabiting the cramped boat is Les (Peter Mullan), his wife Ella (Tilda Swinton) and their young son Jim Jack McElhone). Thanks to Les' drinking, Ella is sexually unsatisfied, and it isn't long before she and Joe are trading bodily fluids in every corner of the ship, often daringly right under Les' nose. Eventually, Les becomes aware of the betrayal and leaves the couple to their own devices, and when Ella's sister Gwen (Therese Bradley) shows up, it isn't long before Joe has had her as well.
A major plot element involves Joe and Les' discovery of the near-naked body of a drowned woman, with Joe's suspicious reaction indicating that he knows more than he's letting on. As we see in a series of flashbacks, the woman is Cathie (Emily Mortimer), with whom Joe had been having a relationship, and he may have had an involvement in her death as well. Eventually, the case culminates in a murder trial that forces Joe to confront the prospect that an innocent man may be executed for the crime.
Taut and concise in its storytelling, the film is a gripping portrayal of the darker aspects of human behavior and the ways in which sex becomes a substitute for genuine emotional connection.
Highly frank and explicit in its depiction of Joe's frequent couplings, it also includes a destined-to-be-much-talked-about sex scene between McGregor and Mortimer in which humiliation and passion are combined to ambiguous effect.
The film wouldn't work nearly as well as it does without the consistently superb performances by the talented cast. McGregor is utterly convincing as a man who is irresistible to women but thankfully avoids any opportunity to play up his natural charm. Swinton is equally restrained as the no-nonsense Ella, imparting volumes about her character in the subtlest of ways, and Mortimer is haunting as the doomed Cathie. Mullan plays the cuckolded Les in highly sympathetic fashion, while Bradley offers an indelible cameo as the sexually rapacious sister.
YOUNG ADAM
Sony Pictures Classics
HanWay Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: David Mackenzie
Producer: Jeremy Thomas
Co-producers: Alexandra Stone, Nick O'Hagan, Jim Reeve
Based on the novel by Alexander Trocchi: Director of photography: Giles Nuttgens
Editor: Colin Monie
Music: David Byrne
Production designer: Laurence Dorman
Cast:
Joe: Ewan McGregor
Ella: Tilda Swinton
Les: Peter Mullan
Cathie: Emily Mortimer
Jim: Jack McElhone
Gwen: Therese Bradley
Running time -- 93 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/9/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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